The All New, New "What have you done to your Bay today" thread.

New Nylocks on ball joints and trackrod ends.
New clutch clevis pin, had to let off the clutch cable at the back to get the fork of the cable over the lever from the pedal.
Did not need to bleed brakes as I had made up some sealing caps for the hoses- put little 4mm neoprene rubber discs in female nuts, put them on the ends of the lines from the master cylinder, and also made up some short brake lines squashed flat at the end for the flexis. Then when I joined it up, I let the fluid drip into the ends of the flexis until they filled up, then screwed the solid lines into them..




Wheels back on, KYB shocks on it. Still too low as stock would have more preload on top arms.



Camber is uneven, I think the nearside is wrong, it looks wrong so it pulls gently to the left.

But the shocks are firmer so even with almost no suspension travel it bottoms gently.

So its going to have to come apart again to set the preload on the suspension without the spindles fully attached, as they seem to limit the suspension from going fully down.

 

Fitted some LED’s from Classic Car LED….. ordered Sunday evening, delivered this morning.
Just done the rear light/brake and the front sidelights …. hoping to make her more visible.
Other than having to file the nearly new Hella headlights bowls to fit the bigger sidelight bulbs, five minute job and so much brighter.

 

they're great bulbs - plug and play and way more light output. i didn't bother with sidelights - i never use them, with a brown bay i pretty much drive around with the headlights on most of the time anyway (like my equivalent of daytime running lights).

 

I found kyb dampers to be very soft. The bilsteins i have now are way better IMO.

So is that a stock width beam, with adjusters at max height?

 

Yup same here I put the headlights on as soon as I’ve started the car.
I had a Volvo years ago and that used to illuminate the side lights as soon as you put the key in the ignition.

 

Yes, stock width beam.
It and only as low as the point the ball joints lock up when unloaded.
There is quite a lot more adjustment upwards available but it requires removing the spindle assembly and replacing it under preload, just like stock.

So I have ordered a 27mm ring spanner so I can use it with a small spanner to stop the ball joint rotating when I disassemble and reassemble it.

 

Now you have something to go on you'll get closer next time. PITA to have to keep removing the spindles.

 

stock would be 5 / 7 o'clock-ish, dangling free of spindles. Hope that helps.

 

One side nearly done a bit of welding new donuts and new backing plate and brakes I was only changing the handbrake cables but as usual things escalated

 

Another useful part of the lowering kit, so I can stop the ball joints rotating with another small spanner that I can hold on the flats on the end of the threaded section.

 

IDK how you managed without. Some BJs have an allen socket in the end.

 

Very satisfying!

 

Some how with a socket or a thin jaw adjustable spanner plus smaller spanner or hitting the balljoint down to get it to lock in. Plus time, overall hours of it as I am not paying for it and the bus isnt going anywhere until I fix it.

 

My sidelights came from Halfords when they went through a phase of selling LEDs before they realised that for most of their e marked customers, they are illegal. Fitted the Hella reflectors perfectly no mods. The Hella headlamp units cost all of £40 each back in 2010.
My bus came with one H4 halogen and one incandesent bulb headlamp..

 

Attempt 3 ..

Without bumpstops, lift upper arm with ratchet strap round bolt through upper shock absorber mounting hole..jack up lower arm. Now the ball joints are at about 90 degrees, so easier to jack up hub assembly onto bolts and attach..

This is at maximum down adjustment..as it says "2 inches lower than stock" hmm.


This too 1 3/4 hours for the first side and an hour for the second, once I got the idea of what needed heaving or pushing into an initial position to lift the heavy spindle and disc assembly onto the balljoints. And start a couple of nuts onto the thread.

 

Looks like mine.

Now just raise the back up. You might like it.

 

Summoned the enthusiasm to remove his rear tinware to track down the popping and banging. Everything is covered in filth, the poor thing. I do neglect him

 

Any joy?

 

My back was killing me, so that's enough for today. Combination of things, I think. As a start, those idiotic rear exhaust clamps are well past their best, so contribute to chuffing.

 

Take it all off, put it all back on?
The head exhaust gaskets crumble too.